For international students who have been accepted to a U.S. college or university, the journey has just started. One part of that is applying for an international student visa, and that can mean months of waiting.

The World reports that lengthy wait times can cause problems for students, but also for a nation trying to attract talent from around the globe.

High school students' scores on the ACT college admissions test have dropped to their lowest in more than three decades, showing a lack of student preparedness for college-level coursework, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the test.

Scores have been falling for six consecutive years, but the trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students in the class of 2023 whose scores were reported Wednesday were in their first year of high school when the virus reached the U.S.

"The hard truth is that we are not doing enough to ensure that graduates are truly ready for postsecondary success in college and career," said Janet Godwin, chief executive officer for the nonprofit ACT.

The average ACT composite score for U.S. students was 19.5 out of 36. Last year, the average score was 19.8.

The average scores in reading, science and math all were below benchmarks the ACT says students must reach to have a high probability of success in first-year college courses. The average score in English was just above the benchmark but still declined compared to last year.

Many universities have made standardized admissions tests optional amid criticism that they favor the wealthy and put low-income students at a disadvantage. Some including the University of California system do not consider ACT or SAT scores even if submitted.

Godwin said the scores are still helpful for placing students in the right college courses and preparing academic advisors to better support students.

"In terms of college readiness, even in a test-optional environment, these kinds of objective test scores about academic readiness are incredibly important," Godwin said.

At Denise Cabrera's high school in Hawaii, all students are required to take the ACT as juniors. She said she would have taken it anyway to improve her chances of getting into college.

"Honestly, I'm unsure why the test was ever required because colleges can look at different qualities of the students who are applying outside of just a one-time test score," said Denise, a 17-year-old senior at Waianae High School.

She's looking at schools including the California Institute of Technology, which implemented a five-year moratorium on the standardized test score requirements during the pandemic. Denise said she knows the school is not considering scores but she doesn't want to limit her options elsewhere.

About 1.4 million students in the U.S. took the ACT this year, an increase from last year. However, the numbers have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Godwin said she doesn't believe those numbers will ever fully recover, partly because of test-optional admission policies.

Of students who were tested, only 21% met benchmarks for success in college-level classes in all subjects. Research from the nonprofit shows students who meet those benchmarks have a 50% chance of earning a B or better and nearly a 75% chance of earning a C or better in corresponding courses.

new york — 

It has been 25 years since the body of Matthew Shepard was discovered in Laramie, Wyoming. The gay college student had been tied to a fence post, tortured, and left to die.

The murder drew national attention to violence against gay people, and attracted the interest of theater director Moises Kaufman, who turned the horror into art with "The Laramie Project."

This 25th anniversary has triggered deep sadness for Kaufman, founder and artistic director of the New York-based Tectonic Theater Project. He wonders about all the things Shepard could have become.

"Every year around this time, it's painful to remember, but this one has hit particularly hard," Kaufman told Theh Associated Press.

After Shepard's 1998 killing, Kaufman and members of Tectonic traveled to Laramie and wrote the play based on more than 200 interviews. "The Laramie Project" is a poignant mix of real news reports and actors portraying friends, family, police officers, killers and other Laramie residents.

This week, Tectonic is marking the anniversary by gathering the original cast and creators, and some of the people represented in the piece for a staged reading and conversation as part of the 2023 Shepard Symposium at the University of Wyoming.

"The Laramie Project," one of the most frequently performed plays in high schools, has been performed in more than 20 countries and translated into more than 13 languages. It is among the top 10 most licensed plays in America.

"Precisely because it wasn't about Matthew Shepard, precisely because it was about the town of Laramie is why it continues to resonate," said Kaufman.

"We were hoping that it wouldn't be relevant anymore. But it is every day more relevant. Hate crimes all over our nation are at much higher rates than they were when Matthew Shepard was killed."

He pointed to an increase in anti-Asian incidents since the pandemic began, and assaults on transgender and gender-nonconforming people.

In 2009, Kaufman was on hand as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed by then-President Barack Obama. The act expanded the 1969 federal hate-crime law to include crimes based on a victim's sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

"The Laramie Project" has consistently been the subject of pushback by some conservative school districts, and this year faces banishment from Florida stages due to what critics call the "Don't Say Gay" law.

Elsewhere, theater creators across the nation say school censorship is getting worse, particularly around material with LGBTQ+ themes. Cardinal High School in Middlefield, Ohio, canceled a production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" due to content issues.

Kaufman is also alarmed that the Lansing Board of Education in Kansas voted to remove the script of "The Laramie Project" from the school curriculum.

"There has always been — since the inception — a couple of theaters every year where the board of the school says no. All right. But this last year was the first time that the book itself was banned from a classroom."

Kaufman has always been cheered by the students who find a way to perform the play despite barriers, becoming what he calls artist-activists. "My belief is that the best art occurs at the intersection of the personal and the political," he said.

Cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings about issues like plagiarism and copying the work of others, but the penalties can be severe: A mistake can lead to a failed assignment, a failed class or expulsion.

U.S. News & World Report explains what international students need to understand about academic integrity. (August 2023)

Leadership skills can help international undergraduate students land a scholarship in the United States.

According to U.S. News and World Report, a track record of teamwork and good writing skills will also help.

A sophomore business student from India says he's living his dream as a student at Fordham University in New York.

At Fordham, Om Bhosale says, he's been able to combine two interests: entrepreneurship as part of his business administration major and global business as a minor. Read an interview with him here.

With easily accessible artificial intelligence programs available to write essays, and learning loss from pandemic restrictions hard to measure, some U.S. colleges are trying a new method to get to know applicants.

They are inviting potential students to campus.

Times Higher Education explains how personal interviews are being used to evaluate candidates.

One of the first women's colleges in the United States is the target of a federal lawsuit, with five current or former tenured faculty members saying the school pays female professors less than their male counterparts.

The New York Times reports Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, New York, also faces allegations of delayed promotions for female professors and a discriminatory performance-evaluation system. (September 2023)

U.S. policymakers are worried about losing potential American advances in science and technology to China, and this could lead to limits on academic exchanges.

Fewer research papers are being jointly authored by scientists from the two countries, and there are signs that the United States is becoming a less desirable study destination for Chinese students.

But academic ties should be preserved, according to an article in Foreign Affairs magazine.

The proportion of international students to the total student population in the United States has grown over the last 60 years, with 5.5% of students now coming from abroad.

Where do most of them come from? Check out these data visualizations from Visual Capitalist to find out. (September 2023).

In the U.S., where an undergraduate degree typically takes four years, a national pilot program is graduating students a year early.

By taking classes in the summer, students save time and money by doing so, and students who are adrift can benefit from the extra academic push.

Jon Marcus has more for The Hechinger Report. (September 2023)

That’s according to Inside Higher Ed’s annual survey, which finds that most officials think that the end of affirmative action will reduce racial diversity on campus.

Read the rest of the findings in this report from Liam Knox. (September 2023)

West Virginia University, the flagship public institution in one of America’s poorest states, has announced a plan to get rid of all foreign languages and creative writing, and fire about 7% of its academic staff. The move is unprecedented among large American schools, and faculty and students are not happy. Nick Anderson of The Washington Post takes a deeper look at the controversy. (August 2023)

Many of the students say they use ChatGPT to organize their notes and make outlines, not to cheat. But other students have used the AI chatbot to do just that.

Confusingly, some students who don’t use ChatGPT are being flagged for plagiarism by AI-detection services, often because their work is of a suspiciously high standard.

Read more about the dilemma in an ABC News report. (September 2023)

Colleges often require letters of recommendation, especially from a teacher who knows your academic work well. Ilana Kowarski and Cole Claybourn review what makes a good letter stand out in U.S. News & World Report. (August 2023) [[ ]]